


I Asked the Moon

by laeb



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M, Severus Snape is a decent man, Werewolf POV, canon death (SB)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-13
Updated: 2004-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23062384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/laeb/pseuds/laeb
Summary: 'Somehow, the werewolf felt that things would be different, this time. Deep down inside, he knew there was something special about this night, something unusual, which would probably not repeat.'
Relationships: Remus Lupin/Severus Snape, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Kudos: 6





	I Asked the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea ‘cause of yehnica and thus all praises should go her way while complaints should hit my mailbox. And yes, Christmas Eve 1996 was a full moon night in the UK. Also, please bear with me if I played a bit with the concept of what are the effects of Wolfsbane on a werewolf.
> 
> Fic was loosely inspired by the song 'J'ai demandé à la lune', by French band Indochine. Look it up/listen to it, it's a precious gem of a song. 
> 
> Originally posted to my lj in December 2004. Retro-posted to AO3 in March 2020.

_**I Asked the Moon**_  
  
  
The werewolf was pacing in his room.  
  
The faint light of the full moon was giving a blue, faery-like atmosphere to the large room.  
  
The werewolf was waiting for his companion. He’d been waiting for half a year, now. He had vanished, before, for a much longer period of time, but he’d come back. His companion had not been like him; the werewolf, however, had liked his smell and they would play games together in the old building years ago. Back when they were still careless. Fooling around, fighting, testing their respective strength, howling to the bright, white, shinny moon.  
  
He had very little hope his companion would show up tonight. However, he would not lose hope of seeing him again someday. Then again, he knew his second companion would show up. It had been showing up in this very room every time for the last several months. It was faithful to him, though not very entertaining.  
  
Sniffling the air and listening carefully, he felt, then heard a low rumble outside the door and he knew his companion had just arrived. The Moon opened the door silently and slipped in, closing and locking the door behind itself quickly.  
  
It was always dark, the Moon, when it was coming down its sky to visit him. Except for its bright and shiny face, of course. Just like it was when up in the sky. A round, illuminated visage surrounded by darkness. His attention was now all focused on the Moon, its slow, quiet gestures. It looked around the room, shook its white face and then looked at him. It smiled, its faces crinkling around the eyes and the mouth, and it extended its hand, letting him sniff it.  
  
Yes, that was his Moon. The Moon that had been there for him for a long time, now. Never missing a rendezvous though always quiet and always returning to its sky before the night was over, while he was asleep and resting.  
  
Somehow, the werewolf felt that things would be different, this time. Deep down inside, he knew there was something special about this night, something unusual, which would probably not repeat.  
  
His Moon, after it pet him on the head a few time, went in a corner of the room and sat, using a long stick to add more light and warmth to the area. The fire changed the colour of its face, but everything else stayed as dark as it had been.  
  
That was when the Moon spoke, for the first time.  
  
He did not understand it for it was not a language he knew, but his Moon had came to life and was trying to communicate with him. Its voice was warm and comforting and so he came closer, sitting down at its feet, listening to the strange noises it was making, and somehow being comforted by them. The tone was soothing. It was talking, in his mind, of shared loneliness and isolation. Of sadness, and hope. Of despair, and darkness. Of new light, and warmth. Of lost companions and newly-found ones.  
  
He understood the Moon and when he answered it, with whines, moans, whimpers and groans of his own, the Moon smiled and pet him some more.  
  
Time passed by and his Moon kept on talking to him, calming him, making him remember why he had felt so sad in the first place, cheering him up. He wanted to pounce the Moon playfully, wanted to act like the puppy he was not anymore. So he gently bit a part of the darkness around the face of his Moon and pulled. To his surprise, the Moon laughed. A happy laugh, the werewolf thought. It scratched him behind the ears, ruffled the fur around his neck and kept on laughing.  
  
The Moon lowered itself to the floor and howled playfully, and it was his turn to laugh in his own way. Nudging it with his cold muzzle, he pushed the Moon so it sat next to him and taking a deep breath, the werewolf howled for his Moon. To his ears, it was an ode to joy, a praise of his Moon. His Moon that came down to meet him every month, that had come to life this once – this one time talking, to make him feel less alone as his companion had not shown up, again.  
  
Eventually, he felt tired and decided he would rest, so he lay on a thick fur in front of the warm light his Moon had created and as he closed his eyes, he felt his Moon installing itself next to him, sharing its own warmth and slipping an arm over his body. Relaxed, he fell asleep, knowing the Moon was there with him.  
  
###  
  
Snape stayed awake until the moon vanished and dawn rose. He had not had the heart to leave the room as he usually did after Lupin would have fallen asleep. He could not. Not on Christmas Day. He knew how Lupin had hated the fact the full moon would fall on Christmas Eve, that year. That he would not be able to spend the evening, nor the following day, with the young Potter at Grimmauld place. That Black would not be around to goof with him this Christmas. That it had been just over six months ago that he’d fallen through that veil.  
  
Lupin still hurt and so Snape was doing his best to keep him company and for some reasons he could not understand, the werewolf accepted him, welcomed him every month.  
  
Now back to his human form, Lupin was breathing slowly and deeply. It seemed to Snape that this one time, the transformation had not been just as painful as it usually was for the other man. A man for whom he had mixed feelings, whom he wanted to love and hate all at once. If only he knew which choice was best. And Snape, satisfied with what he’d witnessed, lowered his guard and fell asleep where he was, next to Lupin.  
  
It was several hours later that he felt the body under his arm shift and only then did he opened his eyes again, meeting with pale ones. He saw, in them, a sort of recognition. Perhaps he could remembered.  
  
‘Severus.’ The eyes were wary, guarded, as though Lupin’s bubble was about to burst and he would wake up to the sad truth of the real world.  
  
Not today.  
  
‘Merry Christmas, Remus.’  
  
Remus smiled tiredly, closed his eyes, snuggled closer and almost instantly fell asleep again, muttering something about the moon keeping its promises.  
  
  
 _finis_


End file.
